De Jong favors Barca over other suitors

Barcelona’s interest in Ajax’s Frenkie de Jong has been known far and wide for a while now. The Catalans tried to bring the 19-year-old to Camp Nou this summer but Ajax eventually blocked the move, having decided de Jong would be a vital part of their team for the upcoming season which will see the Champions League back at the Amsterdam Arena. The Dutch side are set to face Bayern Munich, Benfika and AEK.

The move was, therefore, apparently postponed for the summer of 2019 as Ajax director of football Marc Overmars claims de Jong won’t be leaving in January. This development has alerted other clubs, most notably Barca’s arch-rivals Real Madrid, to the possibility of snatching the deal at some point. It opens up a possibility of a bidding war breaking out, but the it still remains remote as, according to Marca, Overmars knows the young midfielder only wants to move to Barca.